Progress for Everglades restoration continued on June 1, 2025, as water impressively jetted out into the newly opened C-43 reservoir in Hendry County. This long-awaited 18-square-mile reservoir project will store up to 55 billion gallons, or 170,000 acre-feet, of water from Lake Okeechobee to reduce harmful discharges to the Caloosahatchee Estuary during the wet season, while providing beneficial freshwater to the estuary during the dry season.
As the C43 stores and releases water to this system, we will monitor how this crucial Everglades project addresses water quality and nutrient loading in the Caloosahatchee Estuary, and we will continue to advocate for water quality improvements in all Everglades projects. This project is part of the highly successful state-federal partnership in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to restore the environment and make our water resources more resilient. Conservancy Chief Programs Officer Michele Arquette-Palermo and Senior Water Policy Advisor Tammy Ash attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
For more information on the C43 Reservoir, please visit: https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/c43waterqualitystudy.